The present invention relates to jewelry and, more particularly, to an improved clasp for joining the two free ends of a jewelry chain together easily to facilitate that junction.
With certain jewelry, particularly women's jewelry, there is an inherent conflict between the need to make the clasp easy to facilitate so that the wearer can readily join the free ends of the bracelet or necklace, and the need to make the clasp very secure so that it does not easily and inadvertently become unattached and risk the potential loss of the jewelry.
Thus, even young people, having a great deal of dexterity, find it difficult to fasten necklaces behind their necks or fasten most bracelets which, by their nature, must be fastened with the use of only one hand. This problem is compounded many fold in the case of older people or the many millions of people who suffer from even mild cases of arthritis or similar afflictions that limit the use of the hands.
Magnetic clasps are widely used for costume jewelry. However, manufacturers and retailers of fine jewelry (gold jewelry, sterling silver jewelry or jewelry containing gemstones) offer necklaces with magnetic clasps less frequently. Makers and wearers of fine jewelry want the security of a safety catch and many of the available magnetic clasps with safety catches are not considered practical. Such clasps are either too difficult to close, not secure when closed or are too difficult to open. In addition some are simply not attractive.
Accordingly, the clasps for jewelry, as well as clasps for other items, have a long felt need to meet all three of the key consumer requirements, that is, the clasp must be easy to close, it must be secure when closed i.e. it must have a safety catch, and it must be easy for the wearer to open. In addition to those functional requirements, of course, the clasp is commercially benefited by being attractive so that the clasp enhances, rather than detracts, from the overall attractive appearance of the jewelry itself. It is also desirable for a clasp design to be made in narrow and wide versions and in various sizes so as to tie in with and look attractive with different sizes and styles of necklaces and bracelets.
One of the difficulties with the use of a safety catch on a magnetic clasp is the need to align the two ends to be joined together by means of the magnetic attraction requires that the components of the clasp be brought together in a very specific orientation with respect to each other, that is, the components of the clasp must be joined together in only one, specific orientation. Obviously, this is a detraction from the versatility of the magnetic clasp itself, since the need to orient each of the components in a specific manner makes it difficult to bring the clasp together and defeats the purpose of the magnetic clasp that is intended to make the joining of the clasp easy for the user.
An example of a magnetic clasp that does not appear to require a specific orientation of the components of the clasp, and yet which does have a safety catch is shown and described in Levy, U.S. Pat. No. 5,008,984, however, while the components of Levy can be mated in various orientations with respect to each other, the safety catch of the Levy patent extends over the outside end surface of one of the clasp components and thus is susceptible to catching or snagging on the clothing of the wearer and thereby likely to detach the safety catch and thwart its purpose. As the aforementioned Levy clasp is round, it would also not be suitable for a wide necklace or bracelet, as making it sufficiently wide for a necklace of ¾ of a inch to 1½ inch wide or more would make the clasp too bulky.
It would, therefore, be advantageous for a magnetic clasp to have a safety catch mounted to one component of the clasp and to be movable to engage the other component in a manner that maintains a streamlined profile of the completed catch so that the safety catch is unlikely to be detached by snagging on the clothing of the wearer while, at the same time, allowing the separate clasp components to be magnetically affixed together in more than one orientation, and particularly at differing orientations that are 180 degrees apart.
It would, therefore, also be advantageous for a clasp to have all of the foregoing attributes and, additionally, provide some positive indication to the wearer that the clasp has been effectively and fully closed and one means of providing such a positive indication would be to have a positive clicking action that the wearer could hear and/or feel to indicate to the wearer that the clasp has been fully closed and the danger of a partially closed clasp inadvertently coming apart is basically eliminated. As such, the presence of a position click to enable the wearer to feel and/or hear the click provides an important level of comfort to the wearer that the clasp of the particularly piece of jewelry has been safely affixed together and that the jewelry is protected from an inadvertent and unwanted opening.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to have a clasp for joining the free ends of a piece of jewelry having features that overcome the aforedescribed shortcomings in present clasps while having the desired functional features and, at the same time, providing an attractive appearance to the wearer.